GoDaddy Concludes Web Build-A-Thon Program To Enhance Digital Literacy in India

As digital literacy becomes one of the biggest priorities in India, GoDaddy, Inc (NYSE: GDDY), the company that empowers everyday entrepreneurs, yesterday concluded a unique tech building program, Web Build-A-Thon, created exclusively for students and faculty members across the country to help them learn how to build successful websites. This program, created by GoDaddy in association with SmartBridge, an Indian edTech platform providing e-learning on emerging technologies, was aimed to create an opportunity to develop enhanced digital and web development skills.

Launched on 28^th December 2020 and eligible to all students and faculty members across engineering, MCA, computer sciences, business schools and polytechnic schools in India, GoDaddy’s Web Build-A-Thon saw more than 7600 participants join the program. Out of these, 9 finalists were identified in the final project development challenge stage of the program, where they were asked to create individual websites basis pre-set parameters and judging criteria. All the finalists were recognized with GoDaddy Academy certification, along with different cash prizes worth INR 50,000.

Anisha Arya, Sandhiya Kanthakumar and Damarla Venkata Sai Chandana, were the top three winners who bagged first, second and third positions and received INR 15,000, INR 12,000 and INR 10,000 respectively.

While announcing the names of the winners, Nikhil Arora, Vice President and Managing Director, GoDaddy India said “Congratulations to all the winners and everyone else who participated in the Web Build-A-Thon. It gives us immense pride to see students perform exceptionally well throughout the course of the program. We believe in the potential of our country’s youth, who will be the future entrepreneurs of tomorrow, to unlock the power of technology and drive innovation to help boost India’s economic growth.”

The Web Build-A-Thon program started with three-day, hands-on online training, which included free web courses from GoDaddy Academy, the company’s first online training and certification program in India. This was followed by 36 hours of project development challenge, powered by SmartInternz, which included tech bootcamps and mentoring by SmartBridge experts guiding the participants on how to build a website. As part of the project, participants developed websites specific to different themes including Education, E-Commerce, Food & Drink, Tourism, Business and Corporate. The winners were judged on: website design, content of the website, its functionality, and structuring, functions and safety of the plugins (if any).

Talking about co-creating the program and partnering with GoDaddy, Amarender Katkam, Founder & CEO, SmartBridge said “GoDaddy is leading the way in bringing people online through various initiatives and online training programs to develop technical and business skills among young Indians. We look forward to continue working with GoDaddy on more programs like the Web Build-A-Thon, to help prepare students by helping them learn and grow their digital skills, while also igniting entrepreneurship in them. Our partnership with GoDaddy supports our continued commitment to create a promising young workforce that will aid in the growth and development of the country, and help achieve the vision of a self-reliant, digital India.”

GoDaddy’s Web Build-A-Thon program aspired to train the youth of India and also empower the educators across the country to expand and sharpen their knowledge and expertise needed to successfully navigate the evolving digital world.

Commenting further on the program, “this initiative demonstrates GoDaddy’s continued commitment to digitally empower India’s population and help build a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country by providing all the tools and guidance needed to succeed online. With the overwhelming success of the Web Build-A-Thon this year, we look forward to continuing to offer programs focused on skill development in the future,” added Nikhil Arora.

GoDaddy offers an integrated suite of online products ranging from domain names, hosting, website building, email marketing, security protections and an online store. GoDaddy offers 24/7 customer support, locally and in regional languages, to help guide customers in the growth of their venture, and to find the tools that best meet their needs.